W C Tuttle

Amidst the dreary rain of San Francisco, a young woman on the brink of despair crosses paths with a lone cowboy from the desert. A violent incident forces them to flee together, clutching a suitcase that holds more than just clothes-it contains a ticket to a new identity and a destiny intertwined with a distant ranch. Arriving in the dusty town of Oreana, Arizona, they are drawn into a longstanding feud between cattle ranches, where old grudges and hidden wills dictate the fate of the land. The Lazy A ranch holds secrets of wealth and betrayal, and our protagonists must navigate a world of cowboys, lawyers, and miners to uncover the truth. As alliances shift and dangers mount, they find themselves in a race against time to claim what is rightfully theirs, while dodging bullets and deciphering clues that lead to a fortune waiting to be unearthed.

Sheriff Henry Harrison Conroy-once a red-nosed vaudeville headliner, now the unlikeliest lawman in Arizona-prefers a joke to a jawbone, a jug of Frijole Bill's "prune whiskey" to parade speeches, and a crooked smile to a court docket. But when Tonto City's streets fill with burned bodies, counterfeit bills, staged kidnappings, and a political campaign that smells of corruption, Henry's theater instincts become the valley's greatest advantage. In three lean, propulsive adventures collected here, Henry matches wits with blackmailers, counterfeiters, and crooked gamblers; protects wayward teachers and honkatonk beauties; and drags a quarreling town toward justice-all while Judge Van Treece, Oscar Johnson, Frijole Bill, Slim Pickins, and the rest of his ragged crew bungle, bluster, and somehow get the job done beside him. Equal parts western grit, comic cunning, and old-school detective work, Blind Trails at Tonto proves that heroism can wear spats, laugh at danger, and still shoot straighter than its reputation. Includes the complete tales "Henry the Silent," "Tracks in the Sand," and the title story "Blind Trails at Tonto."